OLPC Afghanistan: Difference between revisions

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<i>On Monday June 24, 2013 at 5PM EDT (New York time) OLPC Afghanistan founder Mike Dawson & his partner Carol Ruth Silver will be interviewed live @ http://facebook.com/UnleashKids</i>
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== Welcome ==
(To edit text on this page or add pages, log in and an "edit page / save page-button" will appear;)
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... and thanks for visiting the Afghanistan "OLPC" related Wiki-Pages, for the One Laptop Per Child '''Universal Primary Education project'''. This is '''an "Open Commmunity" project''', similar to the Wikipedia and Open Source Community projects, like Linux, OpenOffice, etc. and it is working along [[Agenda 21]] and [[Millennium Development Goal]] nr.2: Bringing Universal Primary Education.


* 2' video - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-M77C2ejTw&NR=1 OLPC Intro part 1]
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* 2' video - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMeX2D4AOjM&feature=related OLPC Intro part 2]
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[[File:OlpcBelgiumOlpCafe20090409b.JPG|left|325px]]
==One Laptop Per Child Afghanistan==
[[Image:OLPC-AF.jpg|One Laptop Per Child Afghanistan]]


The aim of this educational project is to bring Universal Primary Education by 2015 as - anno year 2000 initiated - '''United Nations Millennium Development Goal nr.2'''. For this and above approach, - and also a lot of lobbying by the right persons on the right places and time - '''the United Nations is a Partner in this Open Community project'''! It is the largest educational project undertaken by Humanity ever... and deemed by many as one of the most inspiring projects out there ... and things are moving very fast indeed: over 86.000 eBooks available, all education disciplines covered, 2008 saw the first 3 developing countries with full coverage, i.e. with all kids age 5 to 12 equipped with these smallest schools in a box-laptops.
This is the new Official Wiki page for "One Laptop Per Child Afghanistan" project. The old page is archived at [[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/One_Laptop_Per_Child_Afghanistan One Laptop Per Child Afghanistan]].
[[File:OlpcBelgiumOlpCafe20090409a.JPG|right|325px]]
OLPC is a not for profit that tries to remain as small as possible and is focussed on making sure the One Laptop Per Child initiative and hardware stays open source and open hardware. OLPC offers tools for the community to collaborate in working on the soft and hardware and helping out with deploying OLPC projects. OLPC soft and hardware is free to be used by all. OLPC has not opened and will not set-up any legal OLPC Afghanistan entity in Afghanistan. OLPC is sure that there are competent individuals that will come together in an organization or that some existing organization will take up the lead in building a dynamic community that will take the OLPC initiative into Afghanistan. It is not possible in making a profit on the laptops. The prices are open and the same to everybody and merely depend on massive numbers. The only way to eventually earn money is by providing assistance to deploy - get through the different phases - and accompany the project, assisting the government in deploying One Laptop Per Child, assisting with training teachers, collaborating in making dedicated ebooks, etc.


[[Image:Phase_1_in_5_highlighted_Commercial_Phase_in_the_5_Phases_in_an_OLPC_Educational_Project_Implementation.png|620px]]
==Project Goals==


Afghanistan is a very multi-cultural society with a very diverse diaspora. We hope that this diaspora will work their way to these pages and that the Afghanistan society will benefit from these citizens with one leg in Afghanistan and another still in their countries of origin to develop leadership for OLPC, Agenda 21, the MDG's and accelerate bringing the level that our planet can be a nice place for all humans to new and inspiring heights for generations to come.
Afghanistan is a very famous for being a multicultural country. Participation of the OLPC
project in Afghanistan will not only revolutionize the way children are taught,
but also scale up the eco-system of sharing between the diverse set of communities existing
in the central Asian countries.


Please feel free to create sub-categories or list or start collaborating, teaming up and expanding our and your projects, existing and new ones in one of the sub-categories.
The mission of this Nonprofit Organization is to create an environment for OLPC,
take necessary steps to ensure every child in Afghanistan gets the laptop and
develop the Local Activities for OLPC laptops that could revolutionize how
Afghani children are educated.
The goal is to provide every child in Afghanistan with new opportunities to
explore, experiment, and express themselves in a collaborative way.


The Ministry of Education Afghanistan (MoE), and Ministry of Communication and
Information Technology Afghanistan (MoCIT), in a unique public-private partnership
with USAID’s Afghanistan Small and Medium Enterprise Development (ASMED) and
Telecom Development Company Afghanistan - Roshan, launched the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)
project in Afghanistan in September 13, 2008.


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=== Contacts and Further Information ===


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• Official [http://www.olpc.af OLPC Afghanistan website]
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==Background==
• Official [http://www.olpc.blogsky.com OLPC Afghanistan Dari Weblog]
* Country background and overview: '''[[OLPC Afghanistan/Background]]'''
* '''[[OLPC_Afghanistan/Deployment_News|School deployments]]'''


This is the official Wiki page for "One Laptop Per Child Afghanistan" project.
• Contact [mailto:salim_hayran@yahoo.co.uk Salim Hayran], OLPC Afghanistan Project Coordinator


[[Image:OLPC-AF.jpg|One Laptop Per Child Afghanistan]]
• Send inquiries to info@olpc.af


Learning outcomes could be massively improved using technology to overcome obstacles in both mainstream school and community based education environments. The OLPC Afghanistan Pilot is working to overcome technical, content, and cultural issues to harness the power of technology in even the most challenging environments to improve learning outcomes; contributing to the future development and prosperity of Afghanistan.
== Stakeholders ==
The following stakeholders are working together to improve education and bring new opportunities for economic development through low cost computing and computer literacy for the Afghanistan's future workforce.


* Schools teach in shifts, learning time can be quite short (2.5hrs/day). Blended Learning with OLPC can effectively extend learning time using classroom time to share learning outcomes
Afghanistan OLPC Team headed by Mohamed Salim Hayran (OLPC Project coordinator)


* Teachers often lack time / resources for providing feedback. Enhanced learning content and instant feedback could be provided to guide learning and improve learning outcomes.
• Members of [http://www.moe.gov.af Ministry of Education Afghanistan]


* Library resources are sometimes scarce. Using the offline digital library system even without Internet huge amounts of learning resources can be instantly available.
• Members of [http://www.mcit.gov.af Ministry of Communications and IT Afghanistan]


* Interactive learning resources and encouraging sharing between learners could lead to improved creativity, problem solving skills and life skills.
• USAID's [http://www.asmed.af Afghan Small and Medium Enterprise Development (ASMED)]


Especially crucial for rural areas with power constraints, this XO model only uses about 25% of the power
• [http://www.roshan.af Roshan]: one of the largest private employers in Afghanistan
usage of a regular laptop, and has the ability to be solar or [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTHilzbuORE&feature=related foot powered].
The laptops will be integrated into teaching curricula, providing students with a vast educational resource, access to
word processing, educational programs, email, and internet browser software. Families
will then have access to training, job information, and resources to develop and improve farms and small
businesses.


Targeting current and historical conflict zones, including Afghanistan, correlates with OLPC’s mission
• [http://www.paiwastoon.com.af PAIWASTOON Networking Services Ltd]: PAIWASTOON is Afghan-International company with a focus on developing sustainable solutions that Make IT Work For Afghanistan. We specialize in open source technology, localization and online applications. We seek opportunities for technology to have a positive effect on as many Afghans as possible, as sustainability as possible. We build the capacity of our local team towards the aim of creating a sustainable locally led company. For further information, contact [mailto:sohaib@paiwastoon.com.af the implementation team].
of offering equal-access education to the most isolated children in the
world-- with the additional advantage of promoting world peace. Although providing immediate relief for
health and infrastructure appear to be of more critical importance in war ridden areas, in order to fully rebuild a war torn region,
educating the youth and future leaders provide the most hope in the construction of a politically stable
country.


A number of full proposals about how to proceed with a large-scale deployment have been presented, including a '''[[:File:OLPC-BriefingNote.pdf|2010 briefing note]]''' by the NGO's ''AIMS'' and Paiwastoon''.
[[Image:OLPC_Team.gif]]
[[Image:N1128574395_30226794_5654.jpg|right|thumb| OLPC Afghanistan Team]]
[[Image:N1017019719_206589_3238.jpg|right|thumb| OLPC Af. Team inside the Office]]
[[Image:N1017019719_206626_2287.jpg|thumb|right| OLPC Af. team in Qargha]]


==Educational Content==
=== Collaboration by the Stakeholders ===


Hardware is but a gateway to content. The OLPC Afghanistan team has:
Localization of XO's into Afghan languages (Dari & Pashto) has been successfully completed, Pashto translation is completed both in pootle online translation server as well as our Entrans translation server, Dari translation was completed offline and then uploaded to pootle server and the translation over Entrans was also successfully completed. In order to load localized interface into XOs, MoE in cooperation with ACSA verified (approved) the translation of Pashto localization and now we are waiting for the approval of Dari localization. The Pashto Verified / adjusted files were compiled and uploaded to the XO machines before the deployment in Jalalabad, where now it’s being used in XO laptops.


* Completely translated Sugar / standard activities as well as EToys
On May 31st, 2009, a collaborative effort was made between OLPC Afghanistan, Master Teachers by Satellite for Afghanistan (MSTA) and Afghan Film to develop an educational game for the XO laptops deployed in Afghanistan. Stories of Nasruddin will guide children through the game. The game will focus mainly on literacy (Dari, Pashto) and numeracy; in later stages science subjects such as physics, biology and chemistry will be added. OLPC Afghanistan expects that the game will be developed in next 2-3 months.


* Translated [http://gcompris.net/ GCompris] to Dari and Pashto
==Deployments==


* A digital library in each school
=== Team Members Involved ===


* Teacher training materials freely available for download
'''Volunteer Team'''
#[mailto:olpc-info@paiwastoon.com.af '''Sohaib Obaidi Ebtihaj''']
#[mailto:usman.mansour@gmail.com '''Usman Mansour Ansari''']
#[mailto:m.hamed@paiwastoon.com.af '''Mohammad Hamed Quraishi''']
Read More about the OLPC Afghanistan volunteers [[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Afghanistan_Team here]


* Family health information activity
'''OLPC Afghanistan Team'''


* Economic Development / Small business activity
Read about the OLPC Afghanistan Team [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Afghanistan_Team here]


Currently we are working on the creation of a high speed book scanner in the office in Kabul (as per the archive.org model) and creation of enhanced curriculum books for all subjects to provide mini tests, simulators, etc.
Join the [http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=100816705098 FaceBook group] for fresh and updated news as well.


==Technical Accomplishments==
=== Pilot Program ===


OLPC Afghanistan has been working to overcome technical barriers to make the deployment really work...
OLPC technical implementation team started working on 19th of November 2008. In December 2008 OLPC Afghanistan deployment team received 10 XO's from the Ministry of Education Afghanistan, for a test lab, which was based in PAIWASTOON office. These XO's are used for experiments and testing in OLPC-AF Office by its technical team, in order to develop and test new activities and software for XO's.


* Developed pure wireless deployment system using Freifunk firmware (also writing the documentation for this firmware in English for the first time)
=== First Deployment ===


* Developed a sustainable pedal as you use it table to run the XO [http://www.olpcnews.com/countries/afghanistan/updates_from_olpc_afghanistan_1.html OLPC News Article]
Twenty teachers have been trained in this school and now they are teaching students with XOs. The Master trainers were trained in PAIWASTOON office and they trained the teachers in the school. In January, 2009, teacher training took place in Kabul and Jalalabad. Each was four days long.


* Adapted espeak for Dari (work in progress on refinement / exceptions). Text to speech technology to support literacy, the illiterate and semi literate.
The deployment should have started in the last week of January, but it actually happened in mid-March. On March 17th, 2009 a ceremony took place at the governor's palace including the Deputy Minister of Education Afghanistan, Director of ICT for the Ministry of Education Afghanistan, Director general of ICT for Ministry of Communication and IT Afghanistan, parents, children (top class position holders e.g. "honor roll"), USAID/ASMED's regional manager and the OLPC Afghanistan Technical Implementation Team.


* Adapted the [http://www.renpy.org Renpy] Roleplay engine to work better on the XO and worked with developers to support right to left scripts.
In its first deployment plan, OLPC-AF provided 396 XOs to every single child in a school in grades 4, 5 & 6 at the Istiqlal High School in the Ningarhar province of Jalalabad. Once the remaining number of XOs are received from OLPC, they will be deployed to grades 1-3. The Istiqlal parents’ attitude, community acceptance, and the school’s overall attitude toward OLPC were the major factors for selection. Also the school size and the number of students in that school was the best match for our first pilot school.


* Software for copying complete websites remotely (webdump) and quickly building, indexing and searching a digital library that works over the local network without the school needing Internet access.
The deployed laptops are pre-installed with:


==Project Goals==
* Complete localization of all core activities in both national languages of Afghanistan (Dari and Pashto)
* The Ministry of Education standard national curriculum books
* Economic information for parents including advice on job interviews etc, a local business directory, a guide to starting a business in Afghanistan, and research of different possibilities for starting small businesses locally.
* Health information (Basic Hygiene, Nutrition, Hand washing - some remaining to be translated)
* Localized updated manuals / guides that replace the standard user manual and appear when the user clicks the Help Icon
* Information for parents about the XO laptop and it's benefits


Mission: To create a fit environment for OLPC, take necessary steps to ensure every child in Afghanistan receives an XO laptop and
Roshan Telecom provided Internet connectivity (64 kbps) to the school, and now students are connected through the mesh network as well as low-speed (just for upgrading of sugar/activities) Internet connection.
develop the Local Activities for OLPC laptops that could revolutionize how Afghani children are educated.
The Afghanistan OLPC project will revolutionize the
way in which children are taught and promote cooperation
between the diverse set of communities existing in central Asia.
The goal of OLPC Afghanistan is to provide every child with new opportunities
to explore, experiment, and express themselves in a collaborative way.


=== Contacts and Further Information ===
Children were of course delighted to receive the laptops and quickly started exploring. The Technical Implementation Team is following up the pilot school to see how the kids and their teachers are getting on with OLPC XO laptops.


• Official [http://www.olpc.af OLPC Afghanistan website]
=== Information on the Pre-Selected Schools for Implementation ===
Here is the list of schools in 5 provinces of Afghanistan. OLPC Laptops will be deployed to all Kabul schools and 25 selected schools in other provinces. Here is the list of schools for pre-selection:
*[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Imp_Kabul <b>Kabul</b>]
*[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Imp_Baghlan <b>Baghlan</b>]
*[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Imp_Balkh <b>Balkh</b>]
*[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Imp_Herat <b>Herat</b>]
*[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Imp_Nengarhar <b>Nengarhar</b>]


• Official [http://www.olpc.blogsky.com OLPC Afghanistan Dari Weblog]
=== Second Deployment ===


• Contact [mailto:salim_hayran@yahoo.co.uk Salim Hayran], OLPC Afghanistan Project Coordinator
OLPC entered its second phase of deployment on June 21st, when students in grades 4-6 in four Kabul schools were given 2000 laptops.


• Send inquiries to info@olpc.af
Upcoming updates of this deployment will be coming soon.


• www.EuAndDiasporaLeadershipDevelopmentInstitute.tk Tribal Regions Afghani-[[Pakistan]]
=== Deployment Wiki Page ===
•• Faisal Amin Khan - +92 334 515 23 07 - Tribal Regions Afghani-Pakistan
[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Afghanistan/Deployment_News Read here]
•• Paris:+33 606864669 GILIBERT
•• Paris: +33658423460 J. BURLOT
•• Brussels +32 487 580 265 --[[User:SvenAERTS|SvenAERTS]] 13:39, 11 April 2014 (UTC)


'''OLPC Afghanistan Team'''
== Picture Blog ==


Read More about the OLPC Afghanistan team and volunteers [[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Afghanistan_Team here]]
View pictures [http://picasaweb.google.com/afghaneco/OLPCAfghanistan# here]

==Deployments==
=== Deployment Wiki Page ===
# video report: http://armdevices.net/2011/10/24/olpc-summit-afghanistan/#disqus_thread
# [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Afghanistan/Deployment_News Read here] Information on pilot project, first and second phase of deployment and list of schools selected for implementation.


== Media Coverage ==
== Media Coverage ==


4/3/09 Huffington Post: [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicholas-negroponte/afghanis-desperately-want_b_182913.html “Afghanis Desperately want to Learn and aren't Afraid to Do So: Washington can't be Afraid to Help Them”] by Matt Keller, Director of Europe, Middle East and Africa for One Laptop per Child.
4/3/09 Huffington Post: [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicholas-negroponte/afghanis-desperately-want_b_182913.html “Afghanis Desperately want to Learn and aren't Afraid to Do So: Washington can't be Afraid to Help Them”] by Matt Keller, Director of Europe, Middle East and Africa for One Laptop per Child.



3/5/09 CNN: [http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/05/one.laptop.per.child/ “Laptops bring lessons, maybe even peace”]
3/5/09 CNN: [http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/05/one.laptop.per.child/ “Laptops bring lessons, maybe even peace”]
Line 145: Line 159:
12/12/07 CSR Wire (The Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire): [http://www.csrwire.com/press/press_release/14970-The-Kite-Runner-Inspires-Gift-Through-One-Laptop “The Kite Runner Inspires Gift Through One Laptop”]
12/12/07 CSR Wire (The Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire): [http://www.csrwire.com/press/press_release/14970-The-Kite-Runner-Inspires-Gift-Through-One-Laptop “The Kite Runner Inspires Gift Through One Laptop”]


'''Picture Blog'''
== Technical structure and operations ==
[[Image:OLPC_Team_Work_Chart.JPG|right|thumb| The Structure of Technical Operations]]
[[Image:Laptop_Update_&_Maintenance_Procedure.JPG|right|thumb| Laptop Update & Maintenance Procedure]]
[[Image:Example_of_Networking_Site_for_Teachers.JPG|right|thumb| Example of Networking Site for Teachers]]
The first diagram shows the structure of Technical operations of OLPC Afghanistan.
The Second one is the chart of Laptop Update and Maintenance procedure and the job of each team member.
The third diagram is showing an example of networking sites available for teachers in schools.


*via Picassa [http://picasaweb.google.com/afghaneco/OLPCAfghanistan#]
<b>Sections</b>:
*via Flickr [http://www.flickr.com/groups/743893@N22/pool/]
The whole Technical operations can be divided into 5 sections.
*Deployment teams section
This section's responsibility is deployment of OLPC laptops to schools with all related logistics and actions.
*Technical trainers section
Technical trainers are responsible for education of teachers and at the beginning of the project also for education of Technical operations staff.
*User service team section
User service teams provides support for teachers and schools what OLPC laptops concern – troubleshooting, documentation creation, development of new activities (programs).
This team will closely cooperate with Ministry of Education on development of new content and activities for OLPC already deployed where MoE will provide the Curricular specifications and content and User service team developers will create the programming part.
*Localization team section
Localization team is responsible for translating the current activities into Dari and Pashto. This activity will take place at the very beginning of OPLC project.


== See also ==
== See also ==
* [[OLPC Afghanistan/Job descriptions]] - jobs needed for the project, not necessarily filled
* [[OLPC Afghanistan/Job descriptions]] - jobs needed for the project, not necessarily filled
* [[OLPC Afghanistan Stakeholders]]
* [[OLPC Afghanistan Stakeholders]]
* Carol Ruth Silver: Master Teachers by Sattelite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en--JhgfD4w
* [[Technical Structure and Operations]]
* [http://www.dupreefoundation.org/able.htm Dupree Foundation and their Library initiative]
** [[OLPC link dupreefoundation]]
* [http://www.plainink.org/en/about-us/history Plain Ink]
** https://www.facebook.com/selene.biffi?fref=ts
** [[OLPC link Plainink]]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciTdxKunWf4 Students in Charikar, Afghanistan want computers]


=== External links ===
== External links ==
*[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Afghanistan/Lets_Explore_XO Lets Explore the XO]
*[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Afghanistan/Lets_Explore_XO Lets Explore the XO]
*[http://www.olpc.af One Laptop Per Child Afghanistan] ''official website''
*[http://www.olpc.af One Laptop Per Child Afghanistan] ''official website'' --[[User:SvenAERTS|SvenAERTS]] 13:36, 11 April 2014 (UTC) sais: Oops! Google Chrome could not find www.olpc.af
*[http://www.paiwastoon.com.af PAIWASTOON]
*[http://www.paiwastoon.com.af PAIWASTOON] --[[User:SvenAERTS|SvenAERTS]] 13:36, 11 April 2014 (UTC) sais: Google Chrome could not find www.paiwastoon.com.af
*[http://www.olpc.blogsky.com OLPC Afghanistan Dari Blog]
*[http://www.olpc.blogsky.com OLPC Afghanistan Dari Blog]
*[http://fa.olpc.wikia.com/wiki/%D8%B5%D9%81%D8%AD%D9%87%D9%94_%D8%A7%D8%B5%D9%84%DB%8C OLPC Afghanistan Dari Wiki Page]
*[http://fa.olpc.wikia.com/wiki/%D8%B5%D9%81%D8%AD%D9%87%D9%94_%D8%A7%D8%B5%D9%84%DB%8C OLPC Afghanistan Dari Wiki Page]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go/OLPC_Afghanistan OLPC Afghanistan] on Wikipedia
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go/OLPC_Afghanistan OLPC Afghanistan] on Wikipedia
*[http://sugarlabs.org/go/OLPC_Afghanistan OLPC Afghanistan Sugar-Labs wiki Page]
*[http://sugarlabs.org/go/OLPC_Afghanistan OLPC Afghanistan Sugar-Labs wiki Page]
*[http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=100816705098 Facebook group] Official OLPC Afghanistan Facebook group




{{Deployment
{{Deployment
|language=Dari,English
|language=Dari,English
|laptops=5000
|laptops=1000
|keyboard=OLPC Dari Keyboard
|keyboard=OLPC English Keyboard
|release=8.2.0
|release=8.2.0
|server= none
|blurb=Started with Paiwastoon. The first few hundred arrived in 2008, and the rest throughout 2009.
|blurb=Supplementary, for repairs and add-on machines.
}}
{{Deployment
|language=Dari,English
|laptops=450
|keyboard=OLPC English Keyboard
|release=10.2.0
|server=0.6
|blurb=Started with Paiwastoon, with a new digital library.
}}
}}


#[[Feel connected join the OLPC community at IRC - Instant Chat channel "OLPC" who are also working on OLPC projects right now at the same time you are working now]]
#[[Afghanistan ORDER LIST CANDIDATE BUYERS OF AN XO LAPTOP]]
#[[Who is who Afghanistan]]
#[[Who's Who OLPC-Afghanistan]]
#[[Facts Afghanistan relevant for an XO deployment]]
#[[FAQ OLPC-Afghanistan]]
#[[OLPC-Afghanistan Meetings]]
#[[OLPC-Afghanistan Discussions]]
#[[What every government should ask itself when considering an ebook deployment]]
#[[OLPC-Openings in Afghanistan]]
#[[OLPC-Openings outside Afghanistan]]
-----
[[Category:Countries|Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Countries/lang-en]]
[[Category:Countries|en]]
[[Category:Budget]]
{{Category:Deployments}}
{{Category:Deployments}}
[[Afghanistan]]
[[Afghanistan]]
[[category:OLPC Afghanistan]]
[[category:OLPC Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Budget]]
[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Deployment planning]]
[[Category:Refugee Camps]]

{{Deployment
|language=Dari, English
|laptops=4700
|keyboard=OLPC Dari Keyboard
|server=0.5.1
|blurb=Started with Paiwastoon. Developed offline digital library system, sustainable human power system, pure wireless class2class (freifunk) networking
}}

Latest revision as of 11:33, 2 October 2014

On Monday June 24, 2013 at 5PM EDT (New York time) OLPC Afghanistan founder Mike Dawson & his partner Carol Ruth Silver will be interviewed live @ http://facebook.com/UnleashKids

Welcome

(To edit text on this page or add pages, log in and an "edit page / save page-button" will appear;)

Translate9.svg

Afghanistan


 Country Information
 ISO Country Code
 Wikipedia Article Wikipedia Link
 Government Support Invalid Support Param
 Deployment Invalid Deployment Param
 Languages
 Keyboard Layout
 Written
 Spoken
 Secondary Written
 Secondary Spoken

... and thanks for visiting the Afghanistan "OLPC" related Wiki-Pages, for the One Laptop Per Child Universal Primary Education project. This is an "Open Commmunity" project, similar to the Wikipedia and Open Source Community projects, like Linux, OpenOffice, etc. and it is working along Agenda 21 and Millennium Development Goal nr.2: Bringing Universal Primary Education.

OlpcBelgiumOlpCafe20090409b.JPG

The aim of this educational project is to bring Universal Primary Education by 2015 as - anno year 2000 initiated - United Nations Millennium Development Goal nr.2. For this and above approach, - and also a lot of lobbying by the right persons on the right places and time - the United Nations is a Partner in this Open Community project! It is the largest educational project undertaken by Humanity ever... and deemed by many as one of the most inspiring projects out there ... and things are moving very fast indeed: over 86.000 eBooks available, all education disciplines covered, 2008 saw the first 3 developing countries with full coverage, i.e. with all kids age 5 to 12 equipped with these smallest schools in a box-laptops.

OlpcBelgiumOlpCafe20090409a.JPG

OLPC is a not for profit that tries to remain as small as possible and is focussed on making sure the One Laptop Per Child initiative and hardware stays open source and open hardware. OLPC offers tools for the community to collaborate in working on the soft and hardware and helping out with deploying OLPC projects. OLPC soft and hardware is free to be used by all. OLPC has not opened and will not set-up any legal OLPC Afghanistan entity in Afghanistan. OLPC is sure that there are competent individuals that will come together in an organization or that some existing organization will take up the lead in building a dynamic community that will take the OLPC initiative into Afghanistan. It is not possible in making a profit on the laptops. The prices are open and the same to everybody and merely depend on massive numbers. The only way to eventually earn money is by providing assistance to deploy - get through the different phases - and accompany the project, assisting the government in deploying One Laptop Per Child, assisting with training teachers, collaborating in making dedicated ebooks, etc.

Phase 1 in 5 highlighted Commercial Phase in the 5 Phases in an OLPC Educational Project Implementation.png

Afghanistan is a very multi-cultural society with a very diverse diaspora. We hope that this diaspora will work their way to these pages and that the Afghanistan society will benefit from these citizens with one leg in Afghanistan and another still in their countries of origin to develop leadership for OLPC, Agenda 21, the MDG's and accelerate bringing the level that our planet can be a nice place for all humans to new and inspiring heights for generations to come.

Please feel free to create sub-categories or list or start collaborating, teaming up and expanding our and your projects, existing and new ones in one of the sub-categories.


Background

This is the official Wiki page for "One Laptop Per Child Afghanistan" project.

One Laptop Per Child Afghanistan

Learning outcomes could be massively improved using technology to overcome obstacles in both mainstream school and community based education environments. The OLPC Afghanistan Pilot is working to overcome technical, content, and cultural issues to harness the power of technology in even the most challenging environments to improve learning outcomes; contributing to the future development and prosperity of Afghanistan.

  • Schools teach in shifts, learning time can be quite short (2.5hrs/day). Blended Learning with OLPC can effectively extend learning time using classroom time to share learning outcomes
  • Teachers often lack time / resources for providing feedback. Enhanced learning content and instant feedback could be provided to guide learning and improve learning outcomes.
  • Library resources are sometimes scarce. Using the offline digital library system even without Internet huge amounts of learning resources can be instantly available.
  • Interactive learning resources and encouraging sharing between learners could lead to improved creativity, problem solving skills and life skills.

Especially crucial for rural areas with power constraints, this XO model only uses about 25% of the power usage of a regular laptop, and has the ability to be solar or foot powered. The laptops will be integrated into teaching curricula, providing students with a vast educational resource, access to word processing, educational programs, email, and internet browser software. Families will then have access to training, job information, and resources to develop and improve farms and small businesses.

Targeting current and historical conflict zones, including Afghanistan, correlates with OLPC’s mission of offering equal-access education to the most isolated children in the world-- with the additional advantage of promoting world peace. Although providing immediate relief for health and infrastructure appear to be of more critical importance in war ridden areas, in order to fully rebuild a war torn region, educating the youth and future leaders provide the most hope in the construction of a politically stable country.

A number of full proposals about how to proceed with a large-scale deployment have been presented, including a 2010 briefing note by the NGO's AIMS and Paiwastoon.

Educational Content

Hardware is but a gateway to content. The OLPC Afghanistan team has:

  • Completely translated Sugar / standard activities as well as EToys
  • A digital library in each school
  • Teacher training materials freely available for download
  • Family health information activity
  • Economic Development / Small business activity

Currently we are working on the creation of a high speed book scanner in the office in Kabul (as per the archive.org model) and creation of enhanced curriculum books for all subjects to provide mini tests, simulators, etc.

Technical Accomplishments

OLPC Afghanistan has been working to overcome technical barriers to make the deployment really work...

  • Developed pure wireless deployment system using Freifunk firmware (also writing the documentation for this firmware in English for the first time)
  • Adapted espeak for Dari (work in progress on refinement / exceptions). Text to speech technology to support literacy, the illiterate and semi literate.
  • Adapted the Renpy Roleplay engine to work better on the XO and worked with developers to support right to left scripts.
  • Software for copying complete websites remotely (webdump) and quickly building, indexing and searching a digital library that works over the local network without the school needing Internet access.

Project Goals

Mission: To create a fit environment for OLPC, take necessary steps to ensure every child in Afghanistan receives an XO laptop and develop the Local Activities for OLPC laptops that could revolutionize how Afghani children are educated. The Afghanistan OLPC project will revolutionize the way in which children are taught and promote cooperation between the diverse set of communities existing in central Asia. The goal of OLPC Afghanistan is to provide every child with new opportunities to explore, experiment, and express themselves in a collaborative way.

Contacts and Further Information

• Official OLPC Afghanistan website

• Official OLPC Afghanistan Dari Weblog

• Contact Salim Hayran, OLPC Afghanistan Project Coordinator

• Send inquiries to info@olpc.af

• www.EuAndDiasporaLeadershipDevelopmentInstitute.tk Tribal Regions Afghani-Pakistan •• Faisal Amin Khan - +92 334 515 23 07 - Tribal Regions Afghani-Pakistan •• Paris:+33 606864669 GILIBERT •• Paris: +33658423460 J. BURLOT •• Brussels +32 487 580 265 --SvenAERTS 13:39, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

OLPC Afghanistan Team

Read More about the OLPC Afghanistan team and volunteers [here]

Deployments

Deployment Wiki Page

  1. video report: http://armdevices.net/2011/10/24/olpc-summit-afghanistan/#disqus_thread
  2. Read here Information on pilot project, first and second phase of deployment and list of schools selected for implementation.

Media Coverage

4/3/09 Huffington Post: “Afghanis Desperately want to Learn and aren't Afraid to Do So: Washington can't be Afraid to Help Them” by Matt Keller, Director of Europe, Middle East and Africa for One Laptop per Child.

3/5/09 CNN: “Laptops bring lessons, maybe even peace”

2/10/09 USAID: “One Laptop per Child Program to be Launched in Afghanistan”

1/31/09 USAID: “One Laptop Per Child program launched in Afghanistan”

9/9/08 Tech World: “How the OLPC can help beat Taliban in Afghanistan”

9/5/08 PC World: “OLPC Seeks ITU's Help to Promote Laptops”

12/12/07 CSR Wire (The Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire): “The Kite Runner Inspires Gift Through One Laptop”

Picture Blog

  • via Picassa [1]
  • via Flickr [2]

See also

External links




Primary Language ,|x|Language spoken::x}}
Number of Laptops Number of manufactured laptops::1000
Keyboard Layout Keyboard::OLPC English Keyboard
Build ,|x|Software release::x}}
Date(s) Arrived in Country ,|x|Has received laptops on date::x}}
School Server ,|x|School server status::x}}
Deployment Status Deployment status::Supplementary, for repairs and add-on machines.



Primary Language ,|x|Language spoken::x}}
Number of Laptops Number of manufactured laptops::450
Keyboard Layout Keyboard::OLPC English Keyboard
Build ,|x|Software release::x}}
Date(s) Arrived in Country ,|x|Has received laptops on date::x}}
School Server ,|x|School server status::x}}
Deployment Status Deployment status::Started with Paiwastoon, with a new digital library.


  1. Feel connected join the OLPC community at IRC - Instant Chat channel "OLPC" who are also working on OLPC projects right now at the same time you are working now
  2. Afghanistan ORDER LIST CANDIDATE BUYERS OF AN XO LAPTOP
  3. Who is who Afghanistan
  4. Who's Who OLPC-Afghanistan
  5. Facts Afghanistan relevant for an XO deployment
  6. FAQ OLPC-Afghanistan
  7. OLPC-Afghanistan Meetings
  8. OLPC-Afghanistan Discussions
  9. What every government should ask itself when considering an ebook deployment
  10. OLPC-Openings in Afghanistan
  11. OLPC-Openings outside Afghanistan

This category is only for pages that describe an OLPC deployment. Category:Deployment planning is for pages about the topic of deployments.

See the Deployments page for deployment summary information pulled from these pages.

Template:Deployment puts pages in this category. Deployment coordinators can use Has default form::Form:Deployment to edit these pages; look for an 'edit with form' tab on them. Afghanistan



Primary Language ,|x|Language spoken::x}}
Number of Laptops Number of manufactured laptops::4700
Keyboard Layout Keyboard::OLPC Dari Keyboard
Build ,|x|Software release::x}}
Date(s) Arrived in Country ,|x|Has received laptops on date::x}}
School Server ,|x|School server status::x}}
Deployment Status Deployment status::Started with Paiwastoon. Developed offline digital library system, sustainable human power system, pure wireless class2class (freifunk) networking